No Mercy
by Cirinde Palantir
Summary: When DB Russell and Greg Sanders investigate a crime scene, something happens nobody expected. The others need to rescue them and while Morgan is doing all she can, it's only becoming harder for her. *Title may change. I couldn't really think of a good one...*
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! This is a new story which I had in my mind some time… I like DB and I think it's a shame there aren't much people writing fanfiction about him… Also, I wanted to have some more DB and Greg together, because I think they have much in common. There is Morganders, of course. A review would make my day, really. _BTW, the doc manager is being funny, so if the layout doesn't look nice, my apologies._**

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DB Russell, graveyard shift supervisor of the Las Vegas Crime Lab, entered another crime scene that night. Behind him was Gregory Sanders, a CSI Level 3. They both were carrying their kits, Russell was holding a flashlight as well.  
'Hey David, tell us what happened,' Russell said, kneeling down, 'at least everything you know.' David looked up for a moment and then looked at the body again.  
'This girl has been found just half an hour ago. Someone with a dog.' He paused, looking at the wound. 'She's been stabbed with a sharp object, I would say a knife.'  
Greg turned around, looking at the wall.  
'Yeah, look at that blood over there, that pattern. A knife for sure.' He turned back at the body. Russell was investigating the body as well and studied the blood on the ground.  
'T.O.D.?' he asked.  
'Less than two hours ago.'  
Greg stood up. He took a glance around the warehouse; it was dark, the ceiling was low which gave him an unpleasant feeling. It was a mess. A table was lying on his side together with some chairs, lots of empty bottles and some playing cards.  
'Probably a party or something,' Greg mumbled, more at himself than at someone else, and walked to the cards to place a yellow board and take pictures. He went on making more pictures. Suddenly he heard his name.  
'Hey Greg, you should see this.' It was David. He turned around and walked back to the victim and David.  
'What did you find?' David pointed at the skirt.  
'She was raped.' He paused. 'I found her wallet. She was only sixteen.'  
Greg stared at the girl. The blond curls as a crown around her head, the eyes looking at the dusty ceiling, it wasn't a pleasant look.  
'Okay,' he mumbled, 'Some more?' David shook his head.  
'I'll do the rest with Albert at the autopsy.' He struggled to his feet and groaned when he finally stood. 'Can we get the body out of here?'  
'Okay for me. Just ask Russell.' Greg took a few steps away from the body and got his phone out of his pocket. No signal. 'Damn,' he said and left the building for a second. One police car had already gone. There was still one, and an ambulance. He walked to the yellow tape, but he didn't dive under it. He quickly dialled the number and waited while the phone rang.  
'_Hey honey,' _he heard and he immediately smiled.  
'Hi babe,' he smiled. 'How're you doing? Everything still okay?'  
_'Yeah, I'm fine. I love it when you call me, you know that? It's just… heavy.'_ Greg loved the sound of his girlfriend talking to him. The little sigh in the end drove him crazy.  
'Of course it's heavy, you're carrying two babies, Morgan.' He smiled. 'I'm proud of you, and surprised that you're still happy, healthy,' he lowered his voice, 'and sexy.' Morgan giggled through the phone.  
_'Stop flirting, Greg! You're on work. How's it going?' _A silence fell.  
'Raped sixteen year old girl, it gets me.'  
_'O my god, that's horrible! Keep strong sweetie, it's okay that it gets you. Proves that you're still human.' _He smiled.  
'Thanks babe, I'd love to be there with you, but I should get back to work. Russell's probably waiting for me.'  
_'Okay Greg, good luck! Love you.'  
_'I love you, Morgan.' He sighed, put his phone away and then hurried back to the building. 

It was nearly empty. Some officers were walking around, but Greg couldn't really make out what they were doing.  
'We're gonna finish this scene. Go see that blood.' Greg nodded at his boss. 'Yes, sir.' He grabbed his kit and went to look at the pattern. He put on his gloves, took the pictures and then took a sample from the blood. Suddenly he noticed a little blood drop next to his right foot. He took another picture and found out it was a trail. He followed it, placing a yellow board at every drop. Sometimes it was one drops, sometimes more. It stopped at a clearly loose board. He lifted it and saw… the knife.  
'Russell!' he said loudly. 'I found the knife.' Within a few seconds, his boss stood next to him.  
'This guy surely wasn't a professional. Good work.' Greg put the knife in a bag and went to one of the officers to sign it and send it to the lab. When he came back, the last officer just went out. He was alone with DB now.  
'Hey bud, look at this.' He said. He was kneeling down at something. Greg knelt next to him. He quickly picked up his camera and took a picture.  
'Drugs,' Russell pointed and took a bit of the white powder in a plastic bag. He turned his head around. 'Hey, why are all those cops gone? I didn't give them the permission to…' BANG!

Both men jumped by the loud bang of the heavy doors closing. They now didn't even have the light from the lamppost outside anymore. A silence fell.  
'Bud you okay?' Russell then asked. Greg nodded, but Russell didn't see that of course.  
'Yeah,' Greg said quickly, 'let's see if we can open the doors again.' His boss patted his pockets for the flashlight. A thin but strong beam of light helped them to come to the door. There was no heck from the inside. 'These doors are likely not to be closed.' Greg said and tried to push against the strong wood. Russell did the same and they started to push harder. Finally, Greg kicked against it, but the door did not budge. He cursed under his breath.  
'Hey there!' Russell yelled and knocked on the door. 'Someone there?' There was no answer. 'HEY!' both men yelled. 'Anyone? Hello? Help us out here!' Greg tried to kick again. No answer. The door didn't open. They pounded for some more time.  
'Damn we're alone.' Russell said finally and turned off his flashlight. 'We can better spare it.' Greg searched his pockets for his phone and looked at it.  
'Of course not signal, just as earlier.' He tried to investigate the facial expression of his boss, but it was too dark.  
'You think this is deliberately done?' The elder man asked.  
'I dunno. Can't we find another way to get out?' They began to touch the walls, pushing at it, groping the holes and bricks that seemed loose. They tried to take away the wood at the windows, but they stayed strong. Finally, both Greg and DB sank to the ground with a heavy sigh. They were both panting slightly. For a few minutes, there was no word or sound; just the heavy breath of Russell and the soft, deep breath of Greg. Then the young man said the thing they both knew, but didn't want to admit.  
'We're trapped.'

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Let me know if you like it so far. Yep, I beg for reviews (: x


	2. Chapter 2

**Next chapter is up! Have fun reading... Please review, next chapter will be more action I hope. (;**

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'Hey Jim, you still can't reach Greg and Russell?' Nick watched the detective, who had his back turned to him and was watching something. There was no answer. 'Ehm… Captain?' The Texan thought he maybe should be quiet for a while. But after a few seconds of awkward silence Brass suddenly shot his head around to see Nick. His whole body followed and Nick could see what he was holding; an innocent little sheet. But Brass' face looked like the paper was everything but innocent.

'Nick go find Ecklie, we're gonna have family meeting.'  
'What? Why? Shouldn't we first contact Gre-'  
'Just do it!' This order was so short and harsh that Nick jumped. Something really was wrong with the captain  
'Okay, okay! I'm sorry, I'm gonna get him now.' He rushed out of the office to get Ecklie, still with no idea what was going on and why they didn't wait for DB and Greg. Normally Brass wouldn't do a family meeting, right?  
When he arrived in the break room with Ecklie, the whole team was there. Except for Greg, Russell and Morgan of course.  
'Okay, can someone tell me what's going on?' Ecklie shortly asked. Nick opened his mouth to start about 'Greg and Russell', but thought Brass wouldn't like it so closed his mouth again.

'I received this, five minutes ago.' Jim Brass pointed at the screen. A scanned image of a letter popped on the screen. There wasn't much written on it.

'Don't come near the warehouse, or you won't be sure of their lives. We'll call later.' Brass was holding a small phone.  
'This laid next to it.' Nobody said something for a moment.  
'Why is this?' Finn said shortly. 'What the hell do they want from us?' Brass shrugged with a painful face.  
'I have no idea. All I know is that we gotta rescue them, before-'  
'Before what?' Sara asked.  
'They could take them somewhere else, somewhere we don't know.' Brass answered and put the phone on the table. 'We should go to the warehouse, before it's too late.'  
'No!' Ecklie intervened, 'we don't know what will happen when we go there. Maybe they shoot us before we can even pull the trigger, maybe they explode the building, or someone's inside who kills Russell or Sanders. We don't know, we can't take risks.' Ecklie's face was serious, just as the others. He was really concerned about the boyfriend of his daughter who was carrying two babies of him.  
'But we can't just sit here doing nothing!' Nick spat. He was scared but didn't want to show it. He didn't even know if his best friend was alive. Because how could they know they still lived? He preferred not to share this thought. He stood up.  
'Nick where are you going?' His supervisor asked. A little bit annoyed Nick turned back.  
'Hodges, he was processing the knife. Maybe he got something.' The others watched him leave. Then they all stood up. They really had to do something. Jim took the black phone, he would keep that with him.

_Two hours later.  
_She couldn't say she was walking. She stumbled more. A bit ashamed of it, but she just didn't care so much at that moment. With a worried and also an angry face, she pulled the door open.  
'What? Morgan? What are you doing here? You can't be here!' Nick yelled. He hurried to here and grabbed a chair. He carefully put her on the chair. You could see he had no idea what to do in this situation.  
'I wanna know where Greg is.' Morgan said. 'Did something happen to him? If so, tell me now.' Nick's jaw dropped.  
'What? Morgan, you shouldn't be so agitated!'  
'And you should tell me where Greg is!' She nearly screamed.  
'Morgan, I-'  
'Nick you're gonna tell me now!' Nick stayed silence, but then saw the face of the blonde.

'Okay okay. This is exactly why we didn't say anything. Ehm… Greg… and DB are, yeah, trapped in a warehouse, which was a crime scene. We know the place, but we can't go to save them cos maybe they hurt us or them…' The Texan stumbled, 'we're doing all we can to find the one who did this but- don't worry, we'll find them.'

'What? Is Greg really in danger?' Morgan wanted to jump up, but she stayed where she was and put both her hands on her huge belly. She closed her eyes and sighed. When she opened her eyes, they were wet. 'Is he really in danger?' she whispered. Nick slowly nodded. He was scared as well. He took another chair and sat down next to Morgan. He put his hand on her leg.  
'We won't stop until we caught that son of a bitch, you know how we are.' Morgan softly nodded and wiped away her tears. 'How did you actually know he was gone?' Nick suddenly asked. She watched him.  
'Greg calls me every half an hour to ask how I'm doing. I must have fallen asleep after he called me. When I woke up, he hadn't called for more than two hours, and he should've been home as well. I knew something was wrong.'  
'Why didn't you just call me then?'  
'If Greg was in danger, I would be here to help you guys catch the-'  
'No, you're not gonna do anything Morgan. You can't work in this situation!'  
'In which situation?' Morgan scoffed, 'that my boyfriend is being held or that I'm pregnant?'  
'Both!' Nick pushed her back on the chair. 'It's better if you stay here or if someone goes home with you. You can stay here, but you can't help us! I refuse.' He knew it would be bad for her if she would help them, though she probably would want to.  
'I'm staying here until Greg is found.' She slowly stroked her belly. Suddenly Finn came walking in.

'Hey Morgan what're you doing here?' she asked surprised and Nick quickly explained.

'Shouldn't you go home?' Julie asked concerned. Morgan stubbornly shook her head. 'But Morgan…'  
'No! I'm not going anywhere.' After a moment, she looked up at Nick and Finn. 'I'm sorry if I'm bothering you with staying here… I just…'  
'… want to stay here because you want to know all about Greg.' Nick finished her sentence.  
'It's okay.' He added. 'You're not bothering us. We all keep an eye on you.' He grabbed some papers. 'I should go and see Brass about this.' He said and left the room.

'Could you tell me what you already found out?' Morgan asked at Finn. She nodded at the chair to make Finn sit down. Finn obeyed.  
'It was a fake crime scene. There were playing cards which were just bought at a shop near the warehouse and quickly spread across the floor. The table and chairs were just randomly pushed on the floor. Also, the floor was extremely dusty, with just two different footprints.' Finn thought for a moment to remember everything. 'We processed the knife the girl was killed with, but there were no fingerprints, the blood was only from the girl. David found her wallet, so we tried to contact the parents.'  
'We don't have to wait long.' Nick was back. 'They're about to arrive here. We can't do anything until we spoke to them.' He gave a quick look at Morgan and left again. Finn stood up.  
'Please be comfortable around here. If necessary, go sit on the couch in the break room. That's more comfy.' Morgan nodded and stood up.  
'I'll do that.' Finn gave her an arm and brought her to the break room.  
'Ehm… Honey, if anything happens… y'know, I'm there, okay? We all will be.' Morgan understood what she meant.  
'Thanks Finn.' The elder woman left the room and Morgan was alone. She just sat on the couch and thought about Greg. In how much danger was he? How was he doing? Was he thinking about her now? _I love you, Greg_. She thought. _It's stupid that I'm talking to you in my head… but I really want you out of that building. Please be safe…_

Somewhere in a closed warehouse, curled up against one of the walls, next to his boss who was sleeping, Greg Sanders stared into the dark. _I love you, Morgan. _He thought. _It's stupid that I'm talking to you in my head… but I really want me out of that building, just to be with you. Please hold on… _

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**Done! Please review (: Hope I'll update soon...**

**-xx-**


	3. Chapter 3

Hey guys, new chapter's up! Sorry I kept you waiting so long, I don't like the fact that I'm so busy I can't even update normally ): But I hope you like this chapter! Please review, I would really love that, it always makes my day to read your awesome reviews! Please tell me what you thought, R&amp;R (;

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'How long are we in here?'  
'No idea. Hours? Days? I lost my feeling for time.'  
'Me too.' Greg buried his face in his hands and breathed heavily. 'Db?' he softly said. 'What if Morgan is… y'know, getting her contractions, or… already giving birth and I- I don't even know and I'm not there…' Russell didn't know how to answer this. He was quiet for a minute and looked at the young man. He couldn't really see him, it was so dark… but his eyes got accustomed to the black.  
'Bud, I don't know how to say this… but please listen. If you keep on thinking about that… you can do that, but it won't help you. It won't fix while you sit there doing nothing. I know you can't do much in this situation. Maybe we should do something… just something so we can kill the time.'

'But what should we do? We're trapped, there is nothing in here, we already tried to escape but we're sure that that is impossible! All we have is our kits, phones without a signal and a flashlight.'

'Do you still have evidence in your kit?' DB said after a little pause. Greg opened it.

'No… I gave it all to the others,' Greg sighed sadly. He slipped down against the wall and stared into the air. His eyes and DB's eyes as well, were accustomed to the darkness. Again, a silence fell. For minutes, or were it hours, they sat and were lost in their own thoughts.

_What if my children are born? What if one of them died? Or both? What if Morgan… what if Morgan died? _He shivered. _I want to be with her, or them, I don't even know if I'm already a father! This is so unfair… I can't do anything… DB, he seems so strong and calm, he will get us out of here. He has so much experience, I can trust him._

DB sat up a bit. _I am old, not extremely old, but I'm not a youngster anymore. I'm trapped in here, it's cold and clammy, moist… But Greg Sanders is here, young, strong, skilled… I'm happy he is here. _

'Did you ever experienced anything like this? I mean- being locked up without knowing if, when and how you get out?' Greg suddenly asked. Maybe it was just to have a subject to talk about.

'No… Not really. I've been through a lot in my career, but nothing like this… I nearly drowned once, but I was saved by my supervisor at the time. I've nearly been shot…' Greg's eyes were big.

'You must've been scared. Have you… ever been kidnapped?' It was weird to hear those questions, normally you wouldn't ask something like that, but with this job… and this situation? Maybe it was even weirder to answer them calmly.

'No, happily not. Nearly been held hostage, but I was rescued just in time.'

'Sorry I didn't rescue you this time.' Greg mumbled. Russell looked at him, but Greg stared down and scratched in the ground with a sharp stone.

'Don't be sorry, Greg. There is no way one of us could've been saved,' Russell smiled and Greg looked up, 'have you been through things like this?' he asked on his turn. Greg shook his head.

'Things… Things happened to me, but no…' He bit his lip.

'What exactly happened to you? If you don't wanna talk about it…' Greg began to scratch in the ground again.

'Once, the lab exploded while I was in there. I was… wounded and I had to go to the hospital. It had been an accident. And once… once I killed someone. We had those gangs back those days who liked to kick and hit random people. 'Fannysmackin' , you know. I was heading to a crime scene when I saw such a gang beating and kicking a man, in a dark alley. I tried to make them move, but one didn't listen and… and I hit him with the car. His friends took revenge by…' Greg shivered softly but tried to hide it. He swallowed. 'By grabbing me out of the car and kicking the hell outta me.' Russell never heard of this story but he saw why; Greg didn't like talking about it. He was biting his lip and breathing heavier.

'You… you must've been scared when that happened. Did you guys get them?'

'Yeah we finally did. But I… I am still scared that they once will take revenge again…' Suddenly Greg's head shot up and he stared at Russell. 'What if this… this is that revenge?'

'Greg I don't think so.'

'Why not?!' Greg jumped up and searched the big doors. 'We don't know anything! Maybe this is an accident, but I think not!' Russell stood up as well and tried to find Greg by the shadows and his voice.

'Greg calm down! We already know we're not able to get outta here without help.'

'Who cares about that?!' Greg screamed angrily and began to push against the door. He smashed his whole body against it, so loud bangs echoed through the building, but without success.

'SANDERS!' Greg stopped, gave one last angry kick against the wood and glared at Russell.

'What else should I do then?' he scoffed.

'We have to wait, we both don't like that but it's all we can do right now!' Greg sighed and searched for the wall again. There he sat down. DB found him and sat down. He carefully put his arm around Greg.

'We shouldn't fight. All we have is the presence of the other and we should be careful with that.'

'You're right…' Greg mumbled, and they both grew quiet.

X

'Morgan how are you doing?' Nick asked.

'I'm okay, how's it going?' She sat up and rubbed her eyes. It was a miracle she had slept, just for half an hour though.

'We've been working for a like eleven hours now and those bastards still didn't call! We went to the shop of those playing cards to ask who bought them but it had been an order. Henry's running the IP.'

'Great.' Suddenly she grabbed her stomach. Nick jumped up.  
'What? Are you okay?'  
'Yeah… yeah I'm fine… okay…'  
'Morgan! Are you sure?' Morgan nodded.

'I'm gonna make someone watch you so you won't be alone.' A few minutes later, a very nervous David Hodges sat down in another chair. Morgan rolled her eyes. If there was one person that would totally freak out and panic, it was Hodges.

Nick walked away, knowing that everybody would hear the panicking screams of Hodges when something was happening.

He couldn't help but walk into Russel's office, where Brass was sitting now. He looked worried and tired.

'I just don't know what we can do anymore, Nick.'

'Me neither.' Brass nodded at a chair where Nick could sit down on. He obeyed, rested his head on his hand and thought. He just thought, but everything he could think of they had already done. And then, it happened. The phone rang, _The _phone. Brass grabbed it from the desk and looked at Nick, who stood right next to him. He picked up.

'Eleven damn hours, why did you guys have to wait eleven fucking hours!'

_'__I would watch my words if I were you, cop.'_

'What do you want?'

_'__Pleasure, nothing more. But that's not why I'm calling, all I wanna say is that you guys can enter that old building safely.'_

'What?' Brass frowned at Nick who was listening as well and had a worried glance on his face.

_'__Just go, I promise none of you will die because of that.' _

'And why should we trust you?' All they had to do was keep the guy talking so they could find out more, this was all they had.

'_Well you don't have to trust me, of course. Then you don't go there. That's fine by me as well.'_ Nick moaned softly and buried his face in the palms of his hands.

'Who are you?'

_'__Don't ask the cheeky questions.'_

'What do you want from us? Money?' A soft, humourless laugh sounded from the phone.

_'__I don't want money, my friend._' The voice of the man drooled of to a quiet whisper. _'I just want to play with your brains, kill your mind. You guys are always so… so smart, good, you always seem to catch the killer, always find satisfaction… in my eyes, that's not fair. Really unfair.' _Jim and Nick were staring at each other while they began to understand what kind of guy this was.

'You don't have to do this, you know. Don't do this, please.'

_'__But I'm so close. Why shouldn't I? I was only calling to say that you can enter that building safely.' _And finally, the beeps sounded. A hopeless Brass, staring at the phone. Nick let out a scream, full of pain and kicked the desk.

'Damn!' he cursed and let out another scream. 'He's killing me!' Brass grabbed both Nick shoulders and made him look him in the eye.

'Nick, calm down! We should tell the others and think of what we should do. Go there or not.'

'Yeah… you're right.'

They were both sleeping, their heads resting on their shoulder, lying very uncomfortably against the wall. Greg was only wearing his trousers, sweat streaming down his chest and face. His hair was sticking on his head, he was short of breath. A sound outside made him open his eyes. He was still half asleep, but he knew where they were. Another sound and suddenly a beam of light which made him put his arms before his face. He felt how Russell woke up as well.

'Nick…?' Greg mumbled, he couldn't see what was happening. They heard footsteps coming closer.

'Hey!' DB yelled, but the sun was so fierce that all they could see was a silhouette. No answer, the shadow just came closer. A blow, a thump against Greg's head. He moaned, but he couldn't do anything anymore. He just slumped to the ground while the pain in his head got worse, and he lost consciousness.

X

Tense, they drove to the terrain and stopped right before the building. Nothing, no people, no weird or suspicious things. Nick jumped out of the car and jumped on the hot gravel.

He ran to the building while grabbing his gun. The others followed him and just before he wanted to open the doors, he turned around and faced Brass, who silently nodded. He pushed away the heavy doors. They were all quiet, trying to look into the dark building. Nick grabbed his flashlight and he shone it around in the building.

'They're not here.' Nick whispered. A tear appeared in his eye but he walked into the building and began to look better, but he couldn't find anything.

'No, they're gone!' he yelled and closed his eyes for a second, ignoring the voices of the others. When he opened them he suddenly saw something lying on the floor. He ran to it and kneeled down.

'They've been here, Brass! It's…' the supervisor sat down next to him. 'It's Greg's shirt.' Nick mumbled. 'We're too late. They're gone.' He looked at Brass. 'We could've known!' his stomach felt so empty, but he was nauseous as well. 'Why else would they let us in?' Nick got on his feet, still holding Greg's shirt. His face was one of fear, pain and despair. He ran out of the building, leaving Brass with a glance of ultimate concentration. Nick was heavily breathing while he pulled out his phone. He had to call Morgan.

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Plot twist... Pleasee review! Xxx


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi there! It's been a while but I've been working on this a lot... This is so difficult to write and I'm not even happy now, but it's fine. Here you go, WARNING: Greg abuse which I think is M, but my fanfiction is being weird so I can't change T into M. Read and Review!**

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'No… I don't… too much…''

'Shut up!' Another yaw, another crack. Another scream of pain. He hissed with his eyes closed, having his mind giving him a flashback. _He was still staring at the window of his car, his whole body in shock. And then there was that crash behind him. In a fearful move he turned around and stared at the broken glass. What had just happened? Then the window next to him broke and strong hands grabbed his clothes. He struggled and screamed, trying to stay into the car, but he wasn't strong enough. He was thrown onto the ground, pulled up and smashed against the wall. He kept on screaming and yelling while a group of teenagers kicked him, hit him and screamed the worst things at him. It was painful to notice that he just couldn't defence himself anymore. He was too weak, too tired. Too much hurt_. The pain in his back was unbearable, the blood was everywhere, he just cried in even more pain when the whip met his back again. He couldn't wipe away his tears: his hands were tied up together. He sat on his knees while his mind was nothing more than a blur of pain. Another time. His roar scream sounded loud in the hot air. He heard a yell from inside, a soft thud from the whip falling down and the owner quickly went inside. Greg moaned when he fell onto the sand, trying to catch breath. His skin burnt, his back bled, everything was dirty and the sand was way too hot, but he couldn't get up anymore, just like that one time. He vaguely heard what was happening inside.

'Shut your mouth, granny,' a slam.

'Don't hurt that boy so much! You're killing him!'

'Maybe that's exactly what I want!'

His salty tears mingled with the grains of sand and he felt the sweat from his neck meeting the blood on his back, which made him squeal, but what could he do? He couldn't even move. He felt how two hands suddenly grabbed his arm and roughly, his hands were untied.

'Get up!' He couldn't obey, he wanted to, but there was no way he could. 'I said get up!'

'Try… to…' He tried to get away when he noticed what was going to happen, but his body just didn't listen to his brain. The whip was right in front of him, there was a yaw, a whooshing sound, a bang and then the pain. He had never felt more pain and had never screamed so much in his entire life. He could feel the weal on his face as the blood started dripping in his mouth. Greg couldn't stop screaming while he fell to the ground and grabbed his face with his hands. He choked in his own blood, tried to breath but choked again and the man grabbed him, pushed him to the barn and threw him inside.

He was still screaming and heavily breathing when he noticed Russell helping him up.

'You should rest, just lay down on your stomach and try to calm down, Greg.' he heard the fear in his supervisor's voice.

'M-m…-my… my f-f-a.. face…' he cried and he lay down on the floor. His whole body was shaking and shocked with every sob.

'It's gonna be okay, buddy, sleep, Greg, just close your eyes.' Greg closed his burning eyes and tried to calm down. He felt DB's hand on his hair while he stroked the young man's warm, bloody hair.

'I'm so sorry, Greg. So sorry…' The man whispered. He had tried to help Greg, but he hadn't been able to and he felt guilty for the pain of this young man. 'You'll be fine, it's going to be fine, just breath… that's all you can do.' And with that, Greg slowly slurred down into a dreamless, drowsy state of being; he didn't really sleep, but he wasn't awake either. His wishes were to be home, with Morgan, get rid of the pain, feel better. But he didn't know if he would ever be.

X

'I got you a glass of water.' Hodges stood in front of her, very quiet. His sad eyes were travelling along her face, as she looked up and gave him a sad smile.

'Thanks, that's sweet.' He handed her the glass and she softly sipped. 'Thanks.' She repeated. He sat down next to her.

'I know I'm not the person you want to sit next to you,' he mumbled quietly, 'but I'll take care of you. You can talk to me, I'll listen, and I will try to talk back as good as I can.' He stared at his hands and sighed.

'Hodges, don't say that. Thanks for being here with me and help me. You're the best friend.' She put her hand on his leg. 'I might be harsh or angry, but… I'm just so afraid.' She sniffed. 'For two days I've been afraid, and it won't leave. The fear doesn't just go away, it is everywhere. Everybody is afraid and there is nobody who can tell us it's gonna be okay.'

'A person's fears are lighter when the danger is at hand,' Hodges said, 'we're so afraid because there's nothing we can do. Well, we're trying to do 'everything we can', but there is nothing, though everybody is working.' He looked at Morgan. 'We're even tracing the tire tracks around the building, which are like ten different ones. There's no way we can find something special there anymore, but we're still searching.'

'You call it hope right?' Morgan whispered softly. She liked that idea. 'I would call it despair, but your opinion is better. Optimistic,' she sighed, 'trying to find optimism in the smallest things, but it's hard.' Hodges looked at her and sighed as well.

'I'm sorry for all what is happening around here. I really am. I may be kind of an ass to Greg, but he's a very good friend I don't wanna lose.' Morgan and Hodges grew quiet, both lost in their thoughts and fears.

X

'Russ… I- I gotta plan.'

'Are you serious, G?' The elder man sat closer to Greg. He was lying on his stomach. He had one eye closed, he couldn't open it. The other eye was watching Russell, who looked at him with a rather curious glance.

'It… came to me when… when he was- was hitting me.' Greg had just returned again from being grabbed out of the barn and being hit by the whip. He couldn't get the words of the man out of his head. He didn't understand them either. Why was he screaming things like that?

_'__Tell me that you hated him! Tell me you disliked him!' _Who was that 'him'? Over and over he asked, but he was punished every time he did and when he tried to say he disliked him, whoever it was, it wasn't enough. He didn't talk about it with Russell, because he knew he didn't know it either. The tired looking DB swallowed and looked at Greg.

'I'm listening, everything can be worth it.'

'Okay… just… just d-don't, don't… i-int-ter-rupt,' Greg mumbled but he tried to make it audible. While he was talking, he was sometimes hissing through his teeth when another shot of pain came from his back or face. He stuttered and was short of breath. 'He leaves the- door open when he… when he drags me out. You should- should g-get out and… and hide in his… car… It's a jeep with a-an open back, there is a lo-lot in it,… you can lie down under a tarp and st-stay there… He goes away with his car… a lot, for… g-groceries or… s'mthing..' Greg grew quiet for a moment to take some breath, 'when he gets-gets out of… his car, you can get out and… and get help.' Russell watched Greg. He didn't say anything, he was just staring at the boy.

'How can you think in such a situation?' he whispered. Greg tried to smile, it only hurt and he choked.

'I'm…. I'm just a good thinker. Not that strong, but… but my brain is.' DB suddenly noticed that he didn't even know a lot from the boy. There was not much he knew about him, his past, his family, how he felt about this work, about the things that happened to him… he barely talked about himself.

'You're a smart kid, Greg.' He looked at the boys back carefully. 'Does it still hurt much?'

'Could… could've been worse…' Greg sighed, 'the drugs he's giving me, they're helping. I stay strong cos of them.'

'We're doing it.'

'What…?'

'Your plan. But do you think you'll manage to be alone here… and with him… I'm trying to be fast, but I don't know where we are. Could be miles away from Vegas.'

'I'll manage.'


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey hey, so this is kinda long chapter. It has a lot of only-Russell and maybe a little too much OOC for Greg, but this was so hard to write that I don't know if you like it or hate it. please, I know you're about to skip this chapter and wait for chapter 6, but I beg you to read it because I put a lot of time in it and I would love to know what you think. I suck at emotional or exciting parts so I apologize. At first I thought I knew how I would continue this, and I wrote it already. But it is crap, it doesn't fit in the story, so I'm gonna write something totally different and I hope that will work. So sorry if the next chapter is going to be delayed; all I want is a good next chapter.**

**R &amp; R please, I want to know more than ever what you think!**

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They were both tensed, everything could went wrong. All they could do was pray for the good things to happen. Deep inside, Russell was afraid. Not for the plan to fail, but for Greg. If Russell would leave, there was no one who could protect him. Perhaps Russell would not be back with help before the man would've returned. Man? Actually, Russell would call him 'the boy' or 'the young man'. The one who did this to them, the one who hurt them so much, wasn't an old man. Young, probably younger than Greg, or maybe a year older. Brown, short hair, a big nose, coarse eyebrows and a small mouth. They had tried to ask him questions, but there was nothing the man would say to them. All the things they heard from him were orders, screams or curses. He had this little accent but because he didn't speak much, they couldn't make out either it was Spanish, Italian or Mexican.  
Russell begged God to make this plan work. It was a genius, but dangerous plan. There was danger in everything he did, even after he had got out of the car safely. Maybe he would be in a strange place with strange people and in this state of being there wouldn't be much people who would like to have him use their phone, he looked like a zombie. But he couldn't be worrying about that; first, he had to focus on getting in and out of that jeep.

X

It was time. Greg was being dragged out of the building and with pain in his heart the elder man saw how the young ex-lab tech was being kicked on the sand and how Greg had to struggle to get up. The handcuffs around his hands, the whip in the hand of the young man, they made Russell think of a movie with too much violence. A bang in the air was followed by a loud, heart-breaking scream from Greg. Another crack. Greg screamed again and then Russell began to run. Run? More like hobble, but he knew he couldn't let Greg go and he had to run. He tried to ignore the loud screams from Greg and then there was the fear again. What if… what if they returned and… and Greg wasn't alive anymore? He reached the corner of the barn and leaned back against the wall. There he stood for a minute, panting and his hand at the place of his heart. The sun was burning heavily on his pale face. His white hair was dirty and looked darker. The sound of the yelling young man and Greg who breathed back 'who… 're you talkin' about?' made him decide to move on quickly. The sand underfoot was hot and crept in his shoes. He shuddered while he carefully jumped into the back of the jeep. What if Greg died? While Russell was covering himself with dirty old canvasses and other stuff, he realised that the chance of Greg surviving wasn't big. They hadn't drank for a few days, despite of the very little they got from the young man, who had gave them some just so they stopped coughing. But that had been just a little sip. And you are really very desperate for water when you're in the desert. Together with that, Greg was wounded. Deadly. His back was ripped open and Russell had seen the old scars before Greg got tortured. But the wounds of the whip weren't healed and he was now hit again. The dark, dried blood mingled with the fresh streaming blood every time he returned. Russell didn't understand why he himself wasn't being tortured, he had tried to ask, ask the man to forgive Greg and take him instead, but the man hadn't answered of course. Russell just didn't understood why only Greg. This would be the fifth time Greg was beaten by the whip, but why? Even that was a question. He had tried to hear what the man was yelling at Greg. He thought he heard things like: _'Say that he wasn't good!' 'Tell me he was a horrible man!' 'Say that you hated him!'_ He had the idea Greg didn't know where he was talking about either, but he didn't want to show he could here the sounds from outside. Russell looked if all his limbs were covered, then he closed his eyes and waited. He tried to ignore the sobs of Greg. Then he sighed again, bit his lip and was alone with his thoughts.

He opened his eyes when he felt that the ground under him was moving. The car, the car was driving! The jeep left. Good lord, Greg was a hero. He was so smart. The man hadn't noticed that one of his hostages was lying in his jeep. When Russell had been in that barn, he hadn't even had the power to think about escaping, it just didn't pop up in his mind. But Greg… he had founded it when he was being slapped and tortured, something which surprised Russell. He could feel the wind and he had thought it would be warm, but it was fresh and cold. Had they been driving so long that they weren't in the desert anymore? Russell lifted the canvas and took a look, very carefully. It was dark. That was why! It was night and it was cold. But Russell didn't care. He loved the wind and the cold air. It was perfect for his burnt skin. He just closed his eyes and relaxed. Then he softly prayed for his buddy to be okay, but all he could do was wait and think. He tried to put in a row everything he had to do.

_1.__Lay down and be quiet._

_2.__When the Jeep stops, wait until you're entirely sure that the young man's gone. _

_3.__Get out of the car quickly._

_4.__Get the license plate in your mind._

_5.__Find a police office. _

_6.__Explain and call LVPD. _

_7.__Save Greg._

The last one was the most important, but for that one, the other steps had to go well. He hoped he would manage to succeed until step 4, because after that, it wasn't hard anymore. Hopefully.

X

Greg felt the needle in his arm. He mumbled 'he didn't need it' and that 'he didn't want to have it', but the man didn't listen of course. Greg felt how the drugs mingled with his blood. The pain reduced, but he began to feel nauseous. He just tried to take deep breaths. Russell would be with this man in a few minutes, all he could do was wait. He felt tired, maybe because of the drugs, maybe just because he was exhausted. So he closed his eyes, tried to breathe normally and closed his burning eyes.

X

Did the car stop? Had the jeep really stopped? Yeah, there was no wind and no sounds of driving, the ground didn't move anymore. He heard the sound of the car door opening, the slamming sound of it closing and then footsteps. He waited ten seconds before he finally moved. Russell knew that he couldn't wait too long because the young man could return. He was stiff, his whole body ached because of the fact he had lied on a hard jeep floor for a few hours. How long had it been? He didn't know. It was still dark when he tried to get up. This was hard, but he pushed himself to do so. He climbed over the edge and fell down on the floor. His face smashed onto the gravel and he immediately felt grazes. A moan escaped from his mouth. Good it was dark, it would be really weird to see a man falling out of a jeep, covered in dirt, sand, ripped parts of things that had to be clothes and blood. He got up and stumbled to the back of the car. Because he had been sitting in a dark building for a day or even more, his eyes knew how to get used to the dark. He tried to figure out what the license plate said.  
_67-5053, from South Dakota_. He repeated it a few times in his mind. _67, 50, 53… 67, 50, 53…_ He was thirsty and tensed. Think... _67, 50, 53…_ his lips formed the words soundlessly. Again and again. He wouldn't … so what now? He pressed his eyes shut, ignored the wounds on his face and thought about the list he had made in his head. So now he should find a police office, an open police office. Where was he? Vegas? Not Vegas, this was more like a small quiet village. He took a deep breath and started to walk. With every step, he felt his feet more and he was glad it was dark, he would look like a criminal. His shoes were filled with sand and sweat. A very uncomfortable feeling. Russell hold onto a wall with his one hand, and with the other he pulled out his shoe and then his sock. This was repeated with the other foot. When his feet touched the cold ground, he sighed in relief. Even though his whole body ached and his legs were about to break off, he loved every second his feet were touching the cold stone.

For maybe more than ten minutes he wandered around and looked at every building. He had never been a scared person, but now he felt the fear getting him at once. What if the man was following him? He turned his head and stared in the dark for a while. No. But what if he was already driving back? What would the man be doing here at night, actually? Of course, his house should be here. He couldn't be living in the desert: only the shed where he and Greg were put in wasn't enough.  
And then he saw it. A police office. With lights inside. He closed his eyes and let his breath go. There it was! Perfect. Now he wasn't afraid anymore, all his troubles were over for a moment. He knew how police officers think and act, how he had to talk to them to make them listen. He quickly walked to the building and pushed open the door.

There was one man sitting behind a desk. A calm, trustable man to look at. He was tall, muscled and had a little beard. He had short hair and his eyes were friendly. The man looked at Russell and for one moment there was a small glimpse of surprise on his face. Then he stood up and walked to Russell.  
'I…' DB whispered, 'water…' Within a minute, there was a glass of water in front of him on a little table. With two swallows, it was gone. He breathed in a few times and tried to calm down.  
'I… I'm DB Russell, head of the Las Vegas Crime Department… I need to call my people, I-I've been abducted… my friend, he's still there. I need my people.' He looked at the man who was trying to understand what Russell was saying. The elder man repeated it a few times.  
'Okay, I'm going to take care of that. But promise me you'll explain everything. I'm police officer and if I can help, I will. This sounds like something I can help with.'  
'I need to call first. Oh, and I need to write down something. Quickly please.'  
Perhaps he didn't understand what was going on, but the cop just did everything Russell asked. _67-50-53-South Dakota… _Weird to see that his handwriting was still the same. Russell thanked the policeman for everything when he finally had a phone in his trembling hands. The number. After a moment of thinking he remembered.  
Tension whistled through his body as he listened to the beeps. Please, he thought with a furious heart and painful stomach, take it… Finally, he heard a little noise and then…  
'Stokes.'  
'Nick… Nick it's me, Russell.' He breathed.  
'WHAT?!' he heard a bang, Nick had dropped something, probably everything he was holding. There had been confusion, relief and choke all in that one word, 'Russell what? What happened, where are you, are you okay? Is Greg okay? Who took you? Where did they took you? Are you safe? Should we…'  
'Nick calm down, I'm okay, just some scratches and exhausted… a young man… he got us to the desert… I'm at...' he looked at the cop. 'where am I?'  
'Kingman.' The officer said helpfully. He had probably heard Nicks' voice as well because Nick wasn't really whispering.  
'Nick, I'm in Kingman. You should come here as soon as possible, I need your help.'  
'How's Greg?' There was fear in Nick's voice.  
'He… He's still in the desert. He was, too weak to…' How could he even say this? 'He was too weak to come with me, he insisted that I left. We have to get him before… before it's too late. The torturing is going to be too much.'  
'T-t-torturing?' There was no rage in his voice. All Russell heard was fear in Nick's suddenly small, soft way of speaking. The word 'torturing' had hit him too hard.  
'Just come here, Nick, we have to save Greg…'

X

'David!' A scream from Morgan as she grabbed the edge of the table. 'David… it's… Get help…' Hodges rushed to her and gently took her shoulders.  
'Morgan are you sure?' Morgan nodded. 'Okay I'm gonna get you to the hospital. I ask Superdave to use his Denali and to help me because he knows how this works and he will…' He stopped his own rambling when Morgan gasped and quickly grabbed his phone.  
'I'm not gonna leave you here on your own. Please hold on I'm trying to stay calm myself and you should do too, just breath...'  
'Hodges… I'm…' Morgan whispered, she was crying. Her hands were around her stomach. 'I'm so afraid, so… afraid… I need… G-Greg…'  
He nodded. 'I understand, just please calm down and take good breaths.'  
'David speaking,' David Philips said through the phone.  
'Superdave please come here Morgan is having contractions.'  
'On my way, give me one.'  
'He's here in a minute.' Hodges said to Morgan who was crying even more. 'You'll get through this, sweetheart. Morgan, you're strong.'  
'Him... Greg… all I need his him… All of him-'  
'It's gonna be okay, just think of him, it's all you can do! Think of what he would say, what he would do.' Hodges stroked her arm as he was impatient for Doc's assistent to be there soon.  
'Morgan, Hodges, I'm gonna get… Morgan, what...?' Nick ran in, breathing heavily.  
'It's…' no more words were said, Nick understood.  
'Hodges, stay with her, Russell just called. I didn't understand it at all but he said Greg's still in danger!'  
Morgan just gasped at the sound of her boyfriend's name. 'He's… he's alive?'  
'Yes but we gotta hurry, Hodges are you gonna manage?' The look in Nick's eyes showed that he didn't trust Hodges.  
'I'm here.' David Philips came running into the room when Morgan gave another yelp and grabbed her stomach again. She fell down against David who took her face in his hands and looked at her carefully.  
'Great, Superdave! Morgan, you're gonna be fine now, I'm off.' He gave a quick kiss on Morgan's head and stroked her cheek before he ran away. He hoped that they were going to be okay, why was this just happening right now? Just when they were gonna find Greg… Hopefully… He shuddered when he jumped into the car. _Don't think about it Stokes._ He told himself; but all he imagined was Greg's limp body, dead and bruised. Sara jumped next to him, Brass and Finn in the backseat. All carrying guns and their vests. Other cops would be following as backup.

X

Alone. Alone in a desert, just lying there in pain. The drugs had stopped working, so the pain got worse. How long had he been here? He had slept, he didn't know. There was darkness all around him, it was even a bit chilly. That was good, it was night, but he was still in pain a lot. He tried to sleep, because he couldn't move anyways. Suddenly he heard a car arive. A jeep.  
He was afraid, within a few minutes, the man would know Russell would be gone and he would blame Greg. He was right, suddenly he was dragged out. Wind, finally some cold air. His mouth opened in an attend to feel the cold air in his lungs.  
'WHERE IS THE OTHER ONE?'  
'I… I don't… k-k-know…' he stumbled and choked. A kick in his stomach. 'Hngg… gghgh…'  
'Tell me or I'll kill you, I'm telling you!' The fear rose in his aching body.  
'N…no I… he was-… gonna, g'nna s'cape, but he… I was too weak, he… w'lked nto the des-ert…'  
'He will never make it.' The man said, more to himself then to Greg. 'He doesn't have any water and he is way too far away…' He took a few breaths. 'And what about you then? You gonna die here then?'  
'If… if you… w-won't… l-l-lemme go…' The man grinned humourlessly.  
'I won't, but one try to escape and you're dead!' he grabbed Greg at his ripped shirt and dragged him to the shed again. Greg was put on the floor which made him choke. He felt that his skin at his arm was pinched. The drugs.  
'No ...' he growled softly, but he could not resist anymore, he wanted to, but he just couldn't. He felt so weak and miserable, though he wanted to be strong and sturdy. The drugs made his arms feel heavy and useless. He felt dizzy again, tired as well, so he closed his eyes again for like the hundredth time. This wasn't what he wanted, but there was nothing else his body responded to. Even if he wanted to lift his hand he wouldn't be able to.

X

'DB!'  
'God bless you Nick Stokes!' after all that time, he finally felt strong, friendly arms around him. He hugged the younger man and patted him on the shoulder. Nick pressed him in his grip and hold onto the elder man's shirt on his back. New clothes had been given to him by the police officer whose name was Bryan.  
'I have no time to explain everything, I know the license plate we have to find. I don't know if he already left this place or if he returned to the desert already.' He gave them the note.  
'Call Henry to trace it.' Nick said to Finn who had jumped out of the car. Nobody said a word while she talked with Henry.  
'Okay so this car belongs to Joel Hammond-Vásquez, a twenty-seven-year-old. His Italian dad, Desidero Vásquez,' Finn said, repeating Henry's words, 'was a CSI.' She looked at the others. 'He never worked in here but he did in New York.'  
'Greg used to work there.' Nick said worriedly and gave a glance at Russell. 'An internship or something,' he put his hand on DB's shoulder, 'I still can't believe you're back, Russell. Now it's time for Greg.' Russell nodded. Six steps were made. Step seven had to succeed.

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**Reviews please, they are my life. My air. My ice-cream on a hot day. *Puppy eyes* (: **


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys! I've not updated in a while, but hopefully I'll have more time to update these days. Maybe I can even update an one shot today but I can't promise anything. So R&amp;R, hope you like it, all that disclaimer stuff... Have fun reading!**

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The drugs made him sleepy and dizzy, but it made him stronger as well. Every time after he woke up from the state the drugs brought him in, he felt stronger. The pain would leave and he wasn't feeling like a miserable ladybug. In these moments he didn't feel sadness or pain; he felt anger. Anger for what the man did to him. His mind was clean, the drugs made it calm and clear. Though some pains were covered, his back was in a constant pain the drugs couldn't cover up. As well was his face and Greg was afraid the scar was going to inflame. He was covered in dirt, his own blood, Russell's blood, dust and little pieces of things that once had been his shirt. He was hungry and thirsty all the time and didn't even know how it would feel to just drink a lot. Greg was lying in his standard position; on his stomach. He had hoped the torturing would stop after he had told the man about Russell. That he maybe could get something to drink.

Morgan… would Morgan be safe? The children… if they were born already, or if they hadn't died… maybe Morgan had already died… There were no drugs that could kill these thoughts. They didn't stop. They didn't leave his mind, he could feel the fear in his veins though he knew he shouldn't think that way. This fear was even worse than all the pain he felt, his rasping throat and empty stomach together. He had to know she was okay, but there was no way he could find out. It was so unfair! His mind kept on thinking and thinking and when he would fell asleep, his dreams were full of visions from Morgan's dead body, died by the birth of her children. A voice that kept saying she hadn't been strong enough, that she had needed someone by her side but that the father of her children hadn't been there. He woke up, drenched in sweat. As if it wasn't hot enough already. While he was still panting and staring at the ground, another flow of anger covered his body.

_Get up. Just get your bloody body up and stand. I can't stand. Yes you can_. Pain, anger, fear… he was thirsty, hungry and tired. He hold onto the wall with one hand and tried not to fall down. His breathing was short and painful. With violent movements of his chest, he closed his eyes and slowly got his breathing under control. The whole room turned around him; the two chairs, the withered table, one door behind which was probably another room and the door. He took a step towards it, which was like ten paces away from him. A horrible feeling spread through the leg he had just stepped with and he cried in pain as he fell against the wall, suddenly shuddering. _Go on. _He hold onto the wall and took another step. Another shot of ache in his leg and he just knew it was because of his back which was injured too much. Sweat beaded along his face and dripped on the ground and he lost the control of his breathing again. _You can do this._ He slowly lifted his leg, his foot left the ground. He moved it through the air and carefully placed it down. A gasp escaped from his mouth when the pain got him.

But then there he was, the young man, he just walked into the barn. He was holding the syringe and looked at Greg with some kind of surprise on his face. He placed the syringe on the table next to him and knitted his eyebrows. Greg didn't know why. Or how. Mostly he didn't know why at this moment. His hands grabbed the chair that stood the closest. It was easy to firmly hold it, but lifting was harder. But he did. With a furious scream he rose it above his head and swung it through the air. A loud 'crack!' sounded when the wood hit the skin. First there was surprise but then fury in the man's eyes as well as pain. _Do it again._ He did. The chair broke the second time he hit his hostage taker, but that left sharp edges which Greg used to continue his attack. He hit and hit until the man fell down on the ground. Of course he had tried to defence himself but how? Nothing was helpful. So now Greg tried to stay on his feet. Every single part of him trembled. Coughs were interspersed with gasps for air. What had he done? Was the man dead? His mind was shaking along with his hands. Now he needed it…

There, on the table, there it was. The needle. He stumbled towards it which could've been for hours. But then he grabbed the syringe and bit his lip as he felt the plastic locked in his trembling fingers.

_You're a terrible person for doing this. Drugs are bad._ But he needed them more than ever, he would die if he didn't… he brought the syringe to eye-level and looked at it. The liquid was still there. Actually his hands shook too bad to do this properly. The needle blooded his upper arm for a few times before he had found the right place. He was hissing his breaths. When he pressed the liquid through the needle into his arm, he let out a little groan. The syringe slipped through his fingers and fell on the ground, but the last bit of drugs was in his body. There he stood waiting for it to work. It took some time but the pain began to reduce slowly. Horrible thinks he yelled at himself inside his head. He was a drugs addict, a complete loser._ A murderer._ But he felt stronger now. He hadn't felt this way for days. Even he didn't know if it was a good or a bad feeling; strong, but strong because of that he had probably killed someone and had used drugs. Anyways, feeling strong felt good for that moment.

He had to go now, there was nowhere to go, but he couldn't stay here either. His eyes went back to the body lying on the floor. The blood was dark and there was much, _way too much._ He had done that himself. He retched and he suddenly felt terribly ill. His hands found the wall again and he stumbled out of the building. He began to breathe in and out the cold air. _Cold. _Finally, after all that time of heat… at night it had been cold outside but not inside the barn, as if all the heat of the desert gathered in there. As the wind tickled his burnt and bruised skin, he stood there. The pipes of his jeans were ripped and dirty. The flaps just moved softly with the wind around his ankles. He didn't wear more than that. His dirty, thin chest went up and down so fast he thought he would lose control of it. Automatically he wrapped his arms around himself, stroking the skin of his bruised arms. Around him was nothing more than darkness. He turned around and vaguely saw the barn he had been in. Bigger than he had thought but still a horrible view. There, next to it, was the car. Greg took a step and still felt pain, but less than before. _Thanks to the drugs._ His hands clasped the car and he threw away the canvasses in the back just to see if there was something useful. A thought popped up. Russell had been lying in here. It seemed so unreal that the elder man had been with him a few hours ago. Suddenly he noticed a repeating _tick-tick-tick-tick-tick_, he first startled but then noticed it were his own teeth. Greg felt stupid for feeling cold, he had wanted to be cold... There was nothing in the back of the car so he hastily grabbed the car door. It wasn't locked, why would it have been locked it anyway? There it was, a bottle. His sweaty but trembling hands grabbed it and he saw that there was just a little bit left. The water was warm and nasty but he didn't care. He threw the empty bottle away, it wasn't enough. He searched for some more but didn't find anything. Greg also knew he had to flee now, he didn't want to stay there any longer and maybe the man would be still alive. He didn't have the keys of the car, but he didn't want to go back to the barn either. He just began to walk. Walk, step by step, hiss after hiss. His arms firmly wrapped around himself. And then he began to sing, why was he singing? Was he becoming mad? He sang different songs; children lullabies, Marilyn Manson, songs Morgan listened to. He didn't stop walking, it was as if he was in a trance which kept him walking. His 'singing' was nothing more than little mumbling but it helped soothing the fear that came with the intense darkness around him. He had never been afraid of the dark, but now… Everything was scary.

X

'LVPD!'  
'Stokes, wait!' Brass ran just behind Nick and tried to stop him, but the Texan didn't listen. Nick pointed his gun around, didn't see anything and looked around to find Greg. A body was lying on the floor close to his feet.  
'No!' He fell on his knees and searched for his flashlight. When it was on, he saw it wasn't Greg. A man, not older than 30, was lying on the floor with blood around his head and a chair next to it. There was blood on the chair as well. A syringe was lying a few feet away. Nick looked up to see an angry Brass, but he eased when he saw Nick's teary eyes.  
'Is it…' he whispered.  
'Yes it's him.' Russell suddenly was next to Brass. Finn was keeping him from falling down as he swallowed and looked around.  
'Greg?' No answer. 'He should be here. He left, I guess,'  
'Maybe with the car.' Nick was already on his feet again but Russell shook his head. 'The car's still there. I think he… he is now walking in the desert somewhere.'  
'N-no… No screw this Greg!' Nick ran out and cursed loudly in the cold, black air. 'We gotta find you! But how are we gonna find you in this!' he yelled. Sara had followed him and now put her arm around him.  
'Hey come on man, Brass is already calling the helicopter which will give us light and it won't be difficult to find him once we have light, we'll go look for him.' Some cops stayed with the body and to investigate and wait for an ambulance, while Russell, Brass, Finn, Nick and Sara got into the two Denali's.

X

Nick hated the fact that it was so extremely dark. He had never wanted light any more than that right moment. He wanted to see where he was driving and where Greg was. He heard, far away, the sound of the helicopter and saw a vague light beam. He hoped they found Greg soon because he knew the boy wouldn't survive that long out in the desert, in the dark, bruised… A little beep sounded from Brass' radio and a tensed voice sounded.  
'There's someone lying on the ground, half a mile at ten o'clock from you guys! Shall we get down?' Nick immediately turned the wheel and started driving in the said direction. Brass looked at him and then brought the radio to his mouth.  
'Yeah, we're nearly there. Make sure your paramedics are prepared.' Nick swallowed hardly. Half a mile, it couldn't be far away now… Nick wanted to drive fast but not too fast, he didn't know what speed to drive… They were near the helicopter's light beam.  
'Nick! There!' Brass pointed. The Texan stopped and rushed out of the car, falling down on the sand. He struggled to get up and ran towards the body lying limp on the ground. Sand was blowing around them because of the helicopter's wind and Nick's eyes were tearing. Not only from the sand. Greg's body looked so… lifeless. And he fell down again, but now next to the body. He lied flat on his face but he had to get up…  
'Greg… No!' He grabbed the young man's thin wrist while Sara knelt down on the other side of Greg. His eyes were closed and his mouth opened a little. He didn't seem to feel the sand or anything else. The loud noise of the landing helicopter didn't even bother them. Nick sobbed with shocks as he tried to feel a pulse. Under his fingers was a very, very soft throbbing. 'Greg!' He gasped. 'He's still alive but weak! Where're the paramedics!' he yelled. Sara was stroking Greg's soft hair as her tears fell on his face, his face with the scar and the bruises, his face which was so thin and pale, but covered in dirt and blood. Men in white jackets came running towards them with a stretcher. But suddenly there was Russell.  
'Don't put him on his back!' He yelled above the thudding sound of the helicopter. 'You can't! He has to be on his stomach, please!' The paramedics listened without asking but they saw why when they turned the man around. Sara gasped and buried her face in Nick's shoulder. The Texan could only stare with wide open eyes at the long, thin cuts, dirty, bloody and unkempt. Nick cried soundlessly. While Greg was dragged away to the helicopter, Nick noticed Brass standing beside them.  
'I wanna go with him.'  
'Nick you can go. I take care here. Just go now.' Brass reassured him. And Nick let go of Sara and rushed to the helicopter. To Greg.

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**Thanks for reading, reviews are my life.  
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